Due to the nature of cooking, kitchenware has been developed to be so various and so distinctive in function that there are usually many single-purpose cooking and/or food processing devices existing in a kitchen, such as slicing means, mixing means, drainer, etc. This may be good for professional cooks or chefs for the kitchenware is handy and convenient. However, for home kitchens, these devices may take too much space in storage, for most of the time most of the kitchenware are not in use. In that case, a multi-purpose food processing device may prove useful in doing food processing while occupying less space in storage.
Besides, although using electricity to replace human power is a symbol of modernization and as a matter of fact the conventionally manually-operated kitchenware is gradually replaced by electrically-operated devices. Although, this can save time and labor in doing food processing or cooking, it causes problems of cleaning, for water in generally is electrically conductive and may result in short circuit when the electrical devices are cleaned with water. For example, Taiwan patent publication number 27,853 discloses a multi-purpose food processor which can be used to juice vegetable and/or fruit with a cutter blade and a strainer basket or which can be alternately used to make food pastes with the cutter blade and a paste bowl. This prior art food processor is electrically operated and has a complicated arrangement. The disadvantage of the prior art food processor is that it is quite difficult in cleaning and it can be damaged by water leaking into the electrical driving parts thereof.
It is therefore desirable to have a food processor which is manually operated but taking only little labor in processing food.